I'm all for free speech. I honestly don't mind that they paid for an ad that voiced their opinions. That being said, I'm unsurprised that they chose to exercise their freedom of speech by once again attacking Catholicism and seeking to muddy the real issues that surround US Catholics at present.

I'll take the text and respond - one at a time - to their ludicrous statements. My comments are in red.

Dear ‘Liberal’ Catholic:

It’s time to quit the Roman Catholic Church.

It’s your moment of truth. Will it be reproductive freedom, or back to the Dark Ages? Do you choose women and their rights, or Bishops and their wrongs? Whose side are you on, anyway?

And these are only a few examples- a very tiny sampling of the almost unfathomable amount of resources we dedicate to providing reliable, charitable healthcare to ALL people all over the world. But sure - this is simply a matter of us suddenly wanting to stop providing what is a vital part of our Catholic identity. Of course. That makes perfect sense. <sarcasm>

It is time to make known your dissent from the Catholic Church, in light of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops’ ruthless campaign endangering the right to contraception. If you’re part of the Catholic Church, you’re part of the problem.

I didn't realize that practicing my faith somehow trampled on your rights. In speaking out against this mandate, I'm not stopping you from purchasing condoms, pills or even abortions. I'm simply attempting to keep myself from footing the bill for your lifestyle choices, especially when those lifestyle choices go directly against my faith. Isn't this what you've always wanted? This is the Church attempting to stay out of your bedroom. Stay out of my wallet, k?

Why are you propping up the pillars of a tyrannical and autocratic, woman-hating, sex-perverting, antediluvian Old Boys Club?

Your proof for any of those completely fallacious statements is where? And that whole sex-perversion comment makes me laugh. We're upholding sexual intercourse to be a holy, beautiful and intimate bond between husband and wife. You folks are the ones attempting to make it a free-for-all that is free from emotion, respect, and responsibility.Why are you aiding and abetting a church that has repeatedly and publicly announced a crusade to ban contraception, abortion and sterilization, and to deny the right of all women everywhere, Catholic or not, to decide whether and when to become mothers?

Because the Church is correct in attempting to stamp out that which is morally bankrupt. We're NOT attempting to refuse women the right to choose whether / when to become mothers. They're perfectly capable of doing that on their own. It's as simple as saying "No, honey, not tonight." Or are you attempting to assert that women are ignorant and incapable of understanding their own bodies well enough to address this issue themselves without the aid of harmful chemicals /invasive procedures?

When it comes to reproductive freedom, the Roman Catholic Church is Public Enemy Number One. Think of the acute misery, poverty, needless suffering, unwanted pregnancies, social evils and deaths that can be laid directly at the door of the Church’s antiquated doctrine that birth control is a sin and must be outlawed.

Oh really? Reproductive freedom goes both ways, dear. How about we call it Reproductive RESPONSIBILITY. Folks don't want to accept responsibility anymore. It has nothing to do with freedom. It has to do with a refusal of responsibility. Freedom is as simple as saying "No, I'm not ready for a child, thus I'm not ready for the act that goes into creating a child" or even "I'm not ready (or willing) to have a child, thus I need to be aware of my body's signals that I'm fertile."

In the eyes of the Church, birth control, abortion and sterilization are mortal sins. Our doctrine on this is not something that can become "antiquated." So regardless of how much public opinion is influenced by your liberal thrust, the Church will remain firmly rooted in the Truth of the Teachings of Christ. Thus, call us outdated all you want. Truth is timeless, and no matter how many times you try to say 1+1=7, the Catholic Church will always discern your folly and seek to correct that folly for the good of Her people.

A backer of the Roman Catholic presidential candidate says that if women want to avoid pregnancy we should put an aspirin between our knees?

Apparently we must take his word for gospel because he's a Catholic. Good thing there haven't been any folks who parade themselves as Catholic and do / say some REALLY anti-Catholic things (Pelosi, anyone? Cuomo? I could go on). Catholic politicians are urging that the right to contraception should be left up to states? Nearly 50 years after the Supreme Court upheld contraception as a privacy right, we’re going to have to defend this basic freedom all over again?

Back to that whole "Truth is timeless" point. Just because the SC said something's A-OK doesn't mean we have to agree. We'll keep plugging away until all life (even that within the womb) is viewed with the respect and dignity it deserves.

You’re better than your church.

Correction - we ARE the Church.So why? Why continue to attend Mass? Tithe?

To worship God in a way He specified was holy and good.To join together as a community to renew our covenant with God as His family.To listen to the Word of God and participate in His Death and Resurrection.To partake of the Blessed Sacrament - something no other religion has.To bear our petitions before the Throne of the Lord on the wings of our angels.To unite ourselves more fully to the Church Triumphant, Penitent and Militant.To express thankfulness for the blessings we've received through Divine Providence.Annnnd, this list could seriously go on forever.

Why dutifully sacrifice to send your children to parochial schools so they can be brainwashed into the next generation of myrmidons (and, potentially, become the next Church victims)?

Of course it's seen as brainwashing to you. And that's fine - no one's asking you to send your kids to Catholic school. However, I know I intend to send mine to a Catholic school so they gain a firm foundation for TRUE Catholic teachings - not the misinformation you spread as fact.

I also appreciate the comfort of knowing Catholic education does a much better job of helping children succeed academically than its secular counterpart. And for the record, that information was compiled using the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

For that matter, why have you put up with an institution that won’t put up with women priests, that excludes half of humanity?

This simply shows your ignorance of Catholicism. ALL people are part of the royal priesthood (men and women alike). However, only men can belong to the ministerial priesthood through Ordination, and that's because women are NATURALLY able to become vessels of life. Men can only gain that gift through the vocation of priesthood (in bearing Christ to the people through Consecration). But since folks like you can't seem to grasp that dignity is not something measured by things you can pat yourself on the back for, just read this and learn why we believe women cannot be priests.

No self-respecting feminist, civil libertarian or progressive should cling to the Catholic faith.

Again, you're attempting to polarize things that honestly have no reason being a part of this discussion. You're attempting to shame folks into leaving the Church because you view it as anti-feminist, stifled and archaic. The Church is none of these things. We respect our women, we revere tradition, and we are able to grow in spirituality courtesy of the Holy Spirit. Just because we aren't willing to fall into the muck you call "progress" doesn't mean we can't be progressive. We just think your version of "progress" is highly suspect and can be likened more to humanity slipping BACKWARDS into slime and filth. As a Cafeteria Catholic, you chuck out the stale doctrine and moldy decrees of your religion, but keep patronizing the establishment that menaces public health by serving rotten offerings.

Your continuing Catholic membership, as a “liberal,” casts a veneer of respectability upon an irrational sect determined to blow out the Enlightenment and threaten liberty for women worldwide. You are an enabler. And it’s got to stop.

I agree that Cafeteria Catholics have to stop, but I think we differ on the reasons why, as these folks do nothing to cast ANY sort of respectability upon those of us who are faithful Catholics. And as for your talk of Enlightenment... well... that's obviously hogwash as Catholicism is a beacon of truth in your sea of folly. As much as you want to claim we're threatening women's health / liberty, we're probably the last bastion they've got that is willing to provide them the compassion and dignity they desperately need.

If you imagine you can change the church from within — get it to lighten up on birth control, gay rights, marriage equality, embryonic stem-cell research — you are deluding yourself.

For any Catholic that thinks they can change that stuff, you're not understanding the concept of dogma, and I'd agree with the statement of "you are deluding yourself."

If you remain a “good Catholic,” you are doing “bad” to women’s rights.

Not only is a non-Catholic attempting to tell me I'm being "bad" but an atheistic one who HATES Catholicism. No conflict of interest there, right? Excuse me, waiter... can I please have a heaping serving of salt to go with this garbage?

You’re kidding yourself if you think the Church is ever going to add a Doctrine of Immaculate ContraCeption.

I bet you thought you were hilarious with that one, didn't you? *Shakes head* That's pathetic.

It is disgraceful that U.S. health care reform is being held hostage to the Catholic Church’s bizarre opposition to medically prescribed contraception.

No, what's disgraceful is that the current administration is attempting to dismantle our 1st Amendment rights and a portion of the population is perfectly content to stand by because they don't understand / care what's going on.

No politician should jeopardize electability for failure to genuflect before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Again, while I'm sure you thought your imagery was hilarious, you fail to make any sort of substantial point. No one is expecting politicians to genuflect before a bishop. We (meaning faithful Catholics) want politicians to uphold the office they were elected for. We want them to hear our voice and protect our right to freedom of religion. If they fail to uphold the dignity of their office, we'll be sure to give them a good old-fashioned boot come next election.

(Question to ask your Bishop: Does he hold up an umbrella against the rain? Isn’t that just as “unnatural” as using a condom or diaphragm?)

Again, this foolish question makes no sense, but it betrays your view of sex. For Catholics, sexual relations are a renewal of wedding vows. It is the total giving of self by husband to wife (and vice versa). Exactly what sort of loving, self-giving exchange is occurring between a human being and rain?

It's not a hysterical claim, but I know you're trying with increasing fervor to make others believe that's all it is. This is a proclamation of TRUTH.

You are savvy enough to realize that the real assault is by the Church against women’s rights and health care.

I see what you attempted to do there. I know you're attempting to stroke my ego and make me go "Yeah! I AM smart enough to realize the Church is really anti-women!"

Unfortunately for you, I'm actually much more intelligent and knowledgable about my faith than you are. So how about you back off with attempting to tell me what my religion stands for and you go about your business of trying to prove to yourself that there is no higher power awaiting you at death.As Nation columnist Katha Pollitt asks: Is it an offense against Jehovah Witnesses that health care coverage will include blood transfusions? The Amish, as Pollitt points out, don’t label cars “an assault on religious liberty” and try to force everyone to drive buggies. The louder the Church cries “offense against religious liberty” the harder it works to take away women’s liberty.

Mark Shea answers this way better than I ever could, so just read this.

Obama has compromised,

No, no he didn't. In fact, he outright lied.but the Church never budges, instead launching a vengeful modern-day Inquisition.

Look at its continuing directives to parish priests to use their pulpits every Sunday to lobby you against Obama’s policy, the Church’s announcement of a major anti-contraception media campaign — using your tithes, contributions and donations — to defeat Obama’s laudable health care policy.

Have you actually been to any churches on Sunday? That's an obvious "no."

The Church has introduced into Congress the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, ” a bill to place the conscienceless Catholic Church’s “rights of conscience” above the rights of conscience of 53 percent of Americans. That the Church has “conscience rights” to deny women their rights is a kissing cousin to the claim that “corporations are people.” The Church that hasn’t persuaded you to oppose contraception now wants to use the force of secular law to deny contraceptive rights to non-Catholics.

Wow - to be quite honest, you lost me at "conscienceless Catholic Church."Also, what is this "53 percent of Americans" you're referring to? But is there any point in going on?

Plenty, as you've yet to give me any solid reasons to leave what I know to be the fulfillment of God's promise for salvation. We have the Sacraments, we have true, moral guidance, we have a community of good, charitable people who seek to extend their hands to help Divine Providence along. We have the Church Triumphant and the Church Penitent pulling for us, and we've got the guidance of the Holy Spirit to navigate us through your treachery.

You've got what? Pills and condoms? Moral bankruptcy? A hopeless future in which life amounts to nothing more than personal gratification and selfish ideas of how others can be utilized for your own ends?

Yeah... no thanks.

After all, your misplaced loyalty has lasted through two decades of public sex scandals involving preying priests, children you may have known as victims, and church complicity, collusion and coverup going all the way to the top.

Ah, there it is... I was waiting for this to rear its head. Yes, we've had our share of fallen leaders, same as everyone else. There really isn't much we can do to rectify all the hurt and pain we've caused, but good luck to the world in attempting to pay us back for all the good we've done. We are a sinful people, but in the end, our track record is much more golden than tarnished. Though this is an ugly scar we will bear forever (and rightly so), it doesn't diminish the humane, holy, and charitable good we've done all over the world.Are you like the battered woman who, after being beaten down every Sunday, feels she has no place else to go?

Really? You seriously went with THIS imagery? I guess you're really trying to bring home your whole "the Church hates women" argument. Again - very sad.

But we have a more welcoming home to offer,

Like all those wonderful things I mentioned above??? Again - no thanks! free of incense-fogged ritual,

Also free from holiness, blessings and God

free of what freethinker Bertrand Russell called “ideas uttered long ago by ignorant men,”

Apparently free from common sense and knowledge of what Catholicism actually teaches, too.

free of blind obedience to an illusory religious authority.

And to top it off, free from absolutes, tradition and reality. Again, no thanks!

Join those of us who put humanity above dogma.

You're confusing humanity for personal gratification and immaturity - a life free from responsibility, meaningful relationships, and most importantly, God. Pardon me if I don't come rushing over to sign up.

As a member of the “flock” of an avowedly antidemocratic club, isn’t it time you vote with your feet? Please, exit en Mass.

Again, I realize you think you're hilarious, but wow. It's like your puns get more cringe-worthy with each passing paragraph! I'll continue voting with my feet straight up the Communion line where I can kneel before my Lord and my God to accept Him with love and joy, content to bear Him forth to others.

"Where are you going, my father, without your son? Where are you going, holy pontiff, without your deacon? Never did you offer a sacrifice without my serving you at the altar. In what way have I displeased you?”St. Lawrence probably couldn't contain his weeping as he followed his beloved leader, Pope Sixtus, to his martyrdom. In an attempt to console his faithful servant, Pope Sixtus prophesied,"I am not abandoning you, my son; a more difficult trial and a more glorious victory are reserved for you; in three days you will follow me."Indeed, after angering the Prefect of Rome by amassing the Church's "treasure" of poor, virgin and infirm Christians, St. Lawrence was martyred on an iron grill, burned alive for his unwavering faith and ineffable love of Christ in the needy. He was infamously quoted as saying, "Turn me over - I'm done on this side!" as he joyously suffered unspeakable pain for love of God.Let us all stop a moment and say a prayer for our Permenant Deacons... those discerning the call, those in formation, and those serving (past and presently). May we continually be thankful for their service to the Church.In other news...

We've still got a bunch of misguided women attempting to decry the unalterable truth of Church Teaching. This time, the burden of foolishness lies with the Women's Ordination Conference. They've got a petition circulating in favor of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, hoping their collective voices will stop Fr. Roy's superiors from correctly dismissing Father from his role as priest. *Shakes head*Once again, how's about these women take a page from the Protestant handbook and just leave the Catholic Church? They are very much in conflict with Catholicism's most basic principles. They're already Protestant, they're just too blinded by self-righteousness to realize it.In fact, as if this entire charade isn't ludicrous enough, they've got a "ministry" that is self-titled "Ministry of Irritation." Sad, isn't it?WOC - instead of attempting to get Catholicism to bow down to your selfish and misled desires, I suggest finding the door and using it. No one is holding you hostage to Catholicism. Please go start your own religion and muck up as much foolishness and dishonesty as you'd like. Stop attempting to drag the Church through the mud. No matter how much you whine, complain and stamp your feet, you'll NEVER be recognized as priests because you were never meant to be priests. So go ahead and have all the false ordinations you want. Go ahead and wear stoles, chausibles, and even "play Mass" with bread and wine. No matter how many manicured hands pray over these items, no matter how much enthusiasm is put into praying our Sacred Prayers, and no matter how much "faith" you've got in your ability to consecrate, Christ will never condescend to create His Body and Blood through you. Wah, wah, wah all the way home, ladies. You are not meant to be priests.

In lighter news, the Mighty Broom has become a symbol of hope and unity for Londoners in response to the rioting and looting of the last few nights. Volunteers organized themselves via Facebook and Twitter and swarmed the hardest hit areas of London in an attempt to begin taking back their streets. God bless them for their efforts. More information, interviews, pictures and commentary can be found here. Kudos to them!

A few friends pointed out that my original blog on Women Priests was pretty awful. I concede they were very much right. I apologize, and hope this one explains the Church's position better. I appreciate the feedback, and appreciate even more the chance to try again. You're all wonderful... even if you do think I'm a crazy. :)

I was a little disappointed with my original blog a couple days ago on this topic. Some of my friends still didn't understand, and others directed me to this site which outlines several more reasons that the Catholic Church is simply "wrong" for not allowing women priests.Apparently, the Holy Spirit had foreseen this. In anticipation of this heresy battle, He dropped a prayer / revelation book into my lap called "The 24 Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ." This sequence was penned by Luisa Piccarreta and translated by Saint Hannibal M. Di Francia (Luisa's Spiritual Director), but Luisa always said this prayer comes from Christ Himself. Currently, Luisa is on the path towards Sainthood, and I would only be too happy to write more about her in another blog at some point. But suffice to say, I know the Holy Spirit was being proactive by leading me to this particular set of prayers.Anyway...Last night, I prepared myself to take part in the Eucharistic Supper hour. In reading and mediating on this hour, Jesus patiently explained to me that He did not ordain His Apostles through the Passover meal as so many of us believe. It was in the washing of their feet that Christ imparted their worthiness to caress the Host of His Eucharist!What an eye-opener! And it makes perfect sense, too! Only in John's gospel are we explained the "Ordination of the Apostles" in this manner. Jesus removed His prayer shawl, remaining only in what we would recognize as a priestly alb and wrapped a towel around His Waist. He knelt in submission and humiliation to accomplish a task so lowly that even Jewish slaves were exempt from the act! St. Peter, horrified that His God would humiliate Himself so drastically, refused to allow Jesus to touch his feet. Jesus, probably with a heart-smile at St. Peter's distressed expression of affection, simply replied, "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."In other words, Jesus was imparting to St. Peter that this act of cleansing must be accomplished in order to follow the Will of God to prepare him for the task about to be commissioned.So contrary to what the women in the above link state, women were NOT present for this, nor were they present for the secondary Eucharistic meal after the Passover supper they prepared. Jesus, through Piccarreta, said of this washing of the feet:I so much cherish this act of receiving Me in the Eucharist, that I do not want to entrust this office to the angels, and not even to my dear Mother, but I Myself want to purify them, down to the most intimate fibers, in order to dispose them to receive the fruit of the Sacrament; and in the Apostles I intended to prepare all souls.Thus, we come to understand that it was in this act of total subjugation that Christ calls His Apostles to be like Him - to serve one another and more importantly, to serve the Church - humbly and with gentleness. Upon completing the Washing of the Feet, Christ then instructs them in the act of Consecration by, for the first time, creating Himself in the form of bread and wine - two of the most humble and universal commodities humanity knows. He then instructs THEM and ONLY THEM to "do this in remembrance of Me."But in order to share this act of Consecration with them, Christ, Himself, wished to make them ready to accept this gift into their hearts. I bow my head in appreciation of such a beautiful and humbling thought.So again, the argument that women were around for the Passover feast has no bearing on the ability of our Church to recognize the ordination of women as priests. Simply put, women were NOT present for this cleansing in preparation for bestowing the gift of the power of Consecration.

Next, this site attempts to utilize Our Most Blessed Mother as a means for their end. *Shakes head* This is mortifyingly wrong. Again, if Christ had wanted women as priests, I assure you, Our Lady would've been first in line, well ahead of St. Peter! But again, folks seem to have difficulty understanding that men and women are called for different purposes. We are equal in dignity, but we have NOT been created to do the same things. We've been created to compliment one another, and the job of a priest is one of those things men have been created for. The Blessed Mother understood her place as the Ark of the New Covenant. She brought forth Christ not through her own power, but through the power of the Holy Spirit! She accepted His Gift through her fiat, she did not consecrate her womb in order to manifest the Presence of Christ within her!

Also, this "one priesthood" nonsense is exactly that... nonsense. There are two types of priesthoods recognized by the Catholic Church (not counting the Priesthood of Christ). One is the ministerial priesthood - which is the familiar clergy of priests and bishops we know and love. The second is the "common" (or, ironically, the "Royal") priesthood that each of us is a part of through Baptism. The two serve VASTLY different functions and one cannot exist without the other since they both exist to SERVE each other.

To put it simply, all apple trees are trees, but not all trees are apple trees, right? The same is true of Ministerial Priests. They all belong to the Royal Priesthood through Baptism, but not all royal priests are ministerial. To claim otherwise is simply fallacious. Utilizing a tiny seed of truth to start your garden of lies will inevitably turn into a jungle of folly.

Then we've got the argument that there have been female deacons in the past - some women even going so far as to claim Mary and Martha as their prime examples.Let me go ahead and dispell that lie outright. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, were NEVER anywhere even remotely near the capacity of priest. Their place was always at the feet of Jesus, learning from Him and serving Him as their honored Guest and Teacher. With that nonsense aside, I'll delve into the topic of female deacons. The women spoken of by this "WomenPriests" organization were nothing more than helpers to maintain dignity and humility through the sacrament of baptism. At the time, Baptism consisted of being wholly submersed in water, thoroughly soaking undergarments. As a result, these "deaconesses" referred to were at the ready with towels and fresh linens so the newly baptized might change themselves into more presentable attire. St. Epiphanius says it best in his piece "Against Heresies" when he wrote:

"We come to the New Testament. If women were ordained to be priests for God, or to do anything canonical in the church, it should rather have been given to Mary in the New Testament... but it was decided differently. She was not even entrusted with baptizing. Nowhere was a woman established among [clerics]. There were four daughters of the evangelist Philip, who were prophetesses, but not priests. Although there is an order of deaconesses in the Church, yet they are not appointed to function as priests or for any administration of this kind, but so that provision may be made for the propriety of the female sex [at baptism]."And just to hit it home one more time that these women were NOT a part of the three "sacred" offices of Holy Orders (which, BTW, are priesthood, diaconate and subdiaconate), the Council of Nicea had this to say:"We have mentioned the deaconesses, who are enrolled in this position, but since they have not received any imposition of hands at all, they are surely to be numbered among the laity."So once again, WomenPriests.org, you are spreading fallacy. I really wonder how much of this you understand and how much you are simply ignorant of. Considering the poor religious education we receive anymore, I wouldn't be surprised if these ideas spring forth innocently from ignorance of where our religious beliefs (as true Catholics) come from. Then again, with all the research they've apparently done to tear down Catholic teaching, they must've come across even a small portion of what I've explained above.*Sigh* Prayers, folks. Prayers to the wonderful Holy Spirit are necessary. May He touch their minds with the light of wisdom, understanding and faith.

I'd like to say, firstly, that I'm practicing the virtues of patience and charity with this post. I'm going to ask that the Holy Spirit keep my tongue in check as I speak of the foolishness of these men and women who seek the ordination of women into the priesthood of the Catholic Church.The New York Times ran this article a few days ago.Let me start off this by explaining the rationalization some make for female priests...1. Severe shortage of priests in general2. Desire among some women to become priests3. Women priests prove that the Church isn't "sexist" 4. Women priests would make up for abuses perpetrated by the male clergy

Going one at a time, yes, we are a little short on priests it seems. That being said, ordaining women would NOT solve the problem. It might - at best - be a temporary bandaid, but the lack of priests is symptomatic of a much larger problem. It's the same problem that is causing the erosion of our parishes, lack of other religious (sisters and brothers), Catholic schools closing by the hundreds, and a general disillusionment with the Catholic Church. The problem, simply put, is a lack of true faith formation. How can we expect to have a wonderful supply of wonderful priests if we don't teach our children what the faith is all about? To the majority of children, faith, at most, is something practiced on Sunday during an hour of Mass, and maybe an hour in school. It's not something publicly practiced at home through family prayer, and it's certainly not something spoken about to friends or other family members. As for the second reason - the desire of some women to become priests - I answer with a basic question of my own... what of the men who have a similarly strong desire to become mothers? There are certainly men who wished to be able to carry a child to term, and even nurse their own children. Even though science has made plenty of strides with biology and physiology, this desire will forever remain just that... a desire. So while I'm sure there are plenty of women who have this sincere desire (St. Therese was one of them!), Jesus did not consecrate women into the Priesthood and as such, gave no authority to the Church to do so either. In fact, if Jesus wanted to consecrate women into the Priesthood, don't you think He'd've chosen His Most Blessed Mother as first in line - even before St. Peter, himself???

God has His reasons for not initiating women into the Priesthood, and as such, the Church cannot go against His Example. It's not about being sexist (point number three). It's about the example Jesus left for the Early Church through His Own Actions. There were NO WOMEN priests, and as a result, we can recognize none today. Men and women, though equal, have been given different sets of gifts and uses. Consecration is simply one that belongs solely to men the same as carrying life to term is one that belongs solely to women.Rationalization 4 is a fallacy, pure and simple. There is a rise in female abuse against children, and we're all familiar with Mary Kay Letourneau... maybe even Debra LaFave! The accusation that only men are responsible for crimes against children is readily proven wrong, and such a foolish belief may even endanger children by creating such a false sense of security.Pope John Paul II made it pretty clear in his Aposotlic letter, Ordinatotio Sacerdotalis. As such, this issue has been laid to rest. Unfortunately, there are those who are angry that the Church didn't bend to their beliefs and desires and still seek to push the issue. They are mistaken in their quest since regardless of their arguments, the Church will not (and truly CANNOT) change its teaching on this.My query again, then, is why do they continue attempting to alter a religion they don't agree with? Why not just find a religion that suits your belief system instead of attempting to force another into your line of thinking? *Shakes head* Sad, really. These folks are running around thinking they're Catholic when, in reality, they are trying to destroy the very thing they think they're out to save. Prayers are needed for them. Lots and lots of prayers.